Note: "This Song Is Green", which is a Billy Nicholls song and
features Pete Townshend on synthesized flute appears on the Polydor (UK) single,
"Forever's No Time At All" (from "Who Came First") and "I Am".

LP Comments: A slight edge to the
Decca (USA) pressing.

CD Comments: The "Who Came First" Ryko (USA) and Imperial (Japan) sound excellent.
On the Imperial (Japan) CD, it seems as if the original track listing (of the Ryko CD) uses the 1996 Tim Young mastering and the 2006 <extra> bonus tracks are
mastered slightly differently - but still sound very good.

DVD-A Comments: What started out sounding very good, turned bad very
quickly. Tracks 1 & 2 sound just fine. However, the volume drops off on track 3,
then dropping even lower on track 4 ("Let's See Action"). This quickly changes
again on track 5 ("Time Is Passing") through the rest of the disc - to be
completely loud and over-modulated . In completely disbelief, I replayed the
disc over and over again to ensure it wasn't my imagination. Unfortunately it
wasn't my imagination, but just a poorly mastered disc.

One side of the disc is DVD-A (which requires a machine that will play DVD Audio
discs), the other side is playable on any DVD Video player.

Summary: The Imperial (Japan) CD is my first choice, both in terms of
sound quality and the many bonus tracks which are not on the original LP and
extended from the 1996 CD.

Other Comments: For the CD release, Pete Townshend added most of his
Meher Baba tracks (the Meher Baba albums also feature other artists) as a bonus.
Exceptions are listed above (under non-album tracks). The CD release was issued
as a standard release and a deluxe release with a nice book.

If you'd like the complete collection of Pete Townshend tracks and would like
to seek out the missing songs, see the "Meher Baba" album section for more
details.

About: Who Came First (with the Meher
Baba Album songs)

As a newbie Who fan in the late 1970's and
approaching the "turning point" of 1982, there were three essential
bootlegs which you "had" to have: Who's
Zoo (for all the rare b sides and such),
Fillmore East (live
1968 Who!) and The Genius Of Pete Townshend
(demos for Who's Next and that
unfinished album - what was it called... "Lighthouse"? Or maybe...
Lifehouse)

Wow. Discovering it all for the first time.

I met a new friend (Phil Cohen) at the Miami Record Show around December
1982. He was a big Who fan and had a recording studio in his bedroom. At
that same record show I also got a copy of "Happy Birthday" (the 2nd
pressing) for $10! The guy who sold it to me also had "With Love" - but
all the way North in Stuart, FL. I ended up I driving there to get it
(another $10 and 220 miles). He was another big Who fan. His whole house
looked like a record warehouse. Tall, free standing metal record racks
everywhere. You had to walk down one of the "rows" to get to his bedroom
where he had the record.

I ended up bringing these 2 records to Phil's house where he recorded
these two LPs as well as "Who Came First" and the 8 minute "Baba
O'Riley" demo (from "I Am") onto a tape for me.

Phil explained some of the history of the "Meher Baba" albums to me as
well as telling me that Pete played all the instruments on these albums.
He didn't have "With Love" before - so we both had a good time listening
to "new music".

I loved "Who Came First" from the very moment I heard it. Great songs,
so perfectly performed.

Initially I didn't like "There's a Heartache Following Me" - but it grew
on me over time and now I consider it a great song.

I found the Meher Baba songs even cooler and more interesting. When I
first heard "The Seeker" I immediately liked it better than The Who
version and quite the opposite, I never cared that much for "Time Is
Passing" until I heard The Who version and that turned into an "instant
Wow". (go figure)

When there was talk of a CD release (of "Who Came First") I wrote Pete
Townshend and suggested he combine the album with his songs from the
"Meher Baba" albums - which he ending up doing (whether it was my
suggestion or his own idea - I don't know. It doesn't matter - what
matters is that the results was the same and fans everywhere could enjoy
this great music).

My only disappointment was the initial release was missing "Mary Jane"
and "Meher". (The latter is a weaker track, but "Mary Jane" is a really
good song.) Fortunately "Mary Jane" was added to the subsequent release.

I was always confused by the "story" of how this album came to be.

What was previously written was something to the effect that Decca/MCA
asked Pete to release "Happy Birthday" because of the bootlegging of
this private LP and that Pete said he would release an album,
but wanted to do it "fresh".

That story never made sense to me because... I have never seen a bootleg
of "Happy Birthday" - ever!

Some years back I asked Pete about this story since I wanted to know the
real story.

(Apparently Decca/MCA had thought that "Happy Birthday" was a bootleg
and that's how all that got started...)

My favorite songs...

* Pure and Easy (I recall the first time hearing it thinking "where's
the rest of it???" The "Genius" LP had the unedited version which also
ended up on the Lifehouse box set.
Great song!)

* Lets See Action (if you don't like this song you have to be a "slug")

* There's a Heartache Following Me (went from a "skipper" to a wow)

* Sheraton Gibson (great song. Pete played this live at the Supper Club
in NY. He forgot the "ho" !!! What exactly did he mean my "Cleveland ho"
? I have no clue - but when he sang it live - I was like - where did it
go???)

* The Seeker (this version seems more personal and raw. Absolutely live
it)

* Day of Silence (great song - after getting tinnitus - it's something
you wish for and know will never happen)

* Sleeping Dog (the best song from "With Love". How could anyone not
love this song?)

* The Love Man (this is such a great song on so many different levels.
Soft, romantic, analytical, deep, spiritual, haunting - the kitchen
sink. I am in awe of Pete every time I hear this. Such a masterpiece.)

What a great album...

Track Listing: Original LP and DVD-A: Pure And Easy, Evolution, Forever's No
Time At All, Nothing Is Everything (Let's See Action), Time Is Passing, There's
A Heartache Following Me, Sheraton Gibson, Content, Parvardigar

CD (1996): Pure And Easy, Evolution, Forever's No Time At All, Nothing Is
Everything (Let's See Action), Time Is Passing, There's A Heartache Following
Me, Sheraton Gibson, Content, Parvardigar, His Hands, The Seeker, Day of
Silence, Sleeping Dog, The Love Man, Lantern Cabin

CD (2006 - Hip-O USA, Imperial Japan): Pure And Easy, Evolution, Forever's No Time At All, Nothing Is
Everything (Let's See Action), Time Is Passing, There's A Heartache Following
Me, Sheraton Gibson, Content, Parvardigar, His Hands, The Seeker, Day of
Silence, Sleeping Dog, The Love Man, Lantern Cabin,
Mary Jane, I Always Say, Begin The
Beguine

LP Comments: The 3 Meher Baba LPs were originally issued on the
Universal Spiritual League (USL) label and then reissued on the Meher Baba
Organization (MBO) label. The latter uses a better quality vinyl than the USL
pressings and therefore sound better. I have heard of some severe problems with
the USL pressings of "Happy Birthday" - reports of off center holes and very
noisy vinyl.

CD Comments: Unfortunately, the sound quality is beyond terrible on
these reissues. Excessive use of "noise reduction" in mastering process has made
these discs virtually unlistenable.

Summary: There is no comparison between the MBO vinyl and the CD
reissues. If you're looking for the complete Meher Baba collection of songs,
then the MBO is the best choice.

If you just want the best sounding Pete Townshend songs and don't care about
the other "Meher Baba tracks", The "Who Came First" CD (see "Who Came First") is
an excellent alternative as it is a great sounding CD, which features most of
Pete's Meher Baba tracks as a bonus. Unfortunately, that CD is missing, "Mary
Jane", "Meher" and the "Baba O'Riley" instrumental demo, so you would need the
Meher Baba albums to be "complete".

Other Comments: From a collector's standpoint, it's nice to have the
original USL LPs, which contained various Meher Baba related newspapers, photos,
etc. But purely from a listener's viewpoint, the vinyl on the "simple" packaged
MBO label reissues, is superior and sounds better.

"Avatar" is a limited edition box set, which includes the 3 Meher Baba albums
on CD and some very nice packaging and artwork.

"Jai Baba" is basically a simple packaged reissue of "Avatar".

Track Listing(s):

Happy Birthday: Content, Evolution, Day Of Silence, Allan Cohen
Speaks, Mary Jane, Allan Cohen Speaks, The Seeker, Begin The Beguine, With A
Smile Up His Nose They Entered, The Love Man, Meditation

I Am: Forever's No Time At All, How To Transcend Duality And Influence
People, Affirmation, Baba O'Riley, The Song Is Green, Everywhere I Look This
Morning, Dragon, O'Parvardigar

Jai Baba: Same track listing as "Avatar" (above) and adds
"O'Parvardigar" recorded live in India (which can be also found on the
"O'Pavardigar" single - with better sound quality. See Pete Townshend singles
section).

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